


A Stroke of Fate

by yourhope



Series: Dianakko Week 2020 [1]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Childhood Friends AU, F/F, diana is having a bad time and akko is literally sent from the heavens to make her feel better, some slight angst, they’re cute babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourhope/pseuds/yourhope
Summary: The day after seeing Shiny Chariot’s performance, Diana expected to feel on top of the world. Instead, she ended up on the verge of tears.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish & Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Series: Dianakko Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895362
Comments: 7
Kudos: 118





	A Stroke of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> For Dianakko Week 2020, day 1: Childhood Friends!

When Diana’s mother surprised her with the news that they were going to Japan to see a Shiny Chariot show, Diana had been ecstatic. To finally see her idol in person was a dream come true. But then her mother shared the additional news that going to Japan would be a family trip, meaning Aunt Daryl, Merrill, and Maril were coming along. Naturally, that made Diana… less ecstatic.

The three of them made it quite clear they thought her fixation with Shiny Chariot was silly. Aunt Daryl would always turn her nose up and often said disparaging things about Chariot’s magic. Luckily, she tended to say those things to Diana’s mother and rarely to Diana, herself. Merrill and Maril, however, did not possess the same restraint. 

Their teasing was relentless and their self-control nonexistent. They were clever in never openly teasing Diana around their parents, so they never got caught. And even if they were to get caught, Diana knew her well-meaning mother would simply ask Aunt Daryl to speak with her daughters and leave them to her discipline. Aunt Daryl’s discipline, unfortunately, would merely be a half-hearted lecture that would go in one ear and out the other as her daughters pretended to listen, only to pick up where they left off later. Diana had been through that enough times to know how it worked. 

So she knew what to expect when they landed in Japan. The days leading up to the show were sure to be frustrating, but it would all be worth it the moment she finally got to experience a real Shiny Chariot performance. For the most part, she had been correct. The show was nothing short of breathtaking. Her aunt and cousins didn’t bother getting tickets, so Diana got to enjoy the night free of their complaints. 

Even when she returned to their hotel, Diana had been too engulfed in her Shiny Chariot high to give them any attention. And that night when she slept, her dreams were full of magic and joy. It was the perfect end to the perfect day. But sadly, that’s exactly what it had been. The end.

The moment she woke up, her cousins were there to greet her with taunts. Her entire morning, it seemed, was spent dodging them, and when she couldn’t do that, trying her best to ignore whatever words they threw her way.

Diana was grateful when her mother decided they should all go out to a park for some fresh air. There were a lot more places she could avoid Merrill and Maril in a park than in their hotel suite and she was beginning to lose her patience. 

She remained quiet (sulked, to be exact) the entire car ride and when they arrived at the park, she was pleased to see it was plenty vast and filled with many playthings for children. Her cousins took more interest in them than her and were soon running off to entertain themselves. Her mother and aunt made themselves comfortable on a nearby bench, sending them off with the usual “be careful” and “stay close.” It was quite a contradicting situation, having to stay close while being as far away from Merrill and Maril as possible, but Diana was able to pull it off.

Now on her own, she knew that she should try and enjoy herself, and she really wanted to, but it was hard with the shadow of her cousins’ rudeness hanging over her. Why _did_ they have to be so rude, anyway? Diana never teased them for anything they liked, so why did they have to tease her? Because she was younger and they thought being older made them more superior? Because Shiny Chariot was looked down on in the magical world? But why did she have to be looked down on? All she wanted was to make everyone smile. Was Diana’s smile really a threat to anyone?

Well, she certainly wasn’t smiling now, so anyone who had a problem with it must have been thrilled.

It just all felt so unfair. One of the few things that brought her the most joy also had to bring with it so much scorn. She was lucky she had her mother who would never be so judgemental and was the very reason she got to see Shiny Chariot’s show in the first place. But her mother was a very busy person and wasn’t as invested in Chariot as she was. 

Diana just wished she had one other person she could be open with about her love for Shiny Chariot, who would understand, match her enthusiasm, and allow her to express herself the way she truly wanted. She just wanted a friend who she could be that comfortable with.

Diana didn’t realize how overwhelmed with feelings she had gotten until she felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes. A wave of embarrassment washed over her. She didn’t want to cry. She hated when she wound up crying. Heaven forbid her cousins saw her being so emotional, they would have a field day. Thankfully, they were completely unaware of her presence as they struck up fun on the playground. 

Diana noticed she had wandered out of her mother and aunt’s line of sight, which she was fine with for the time being. She wanted to collect herself before showing her face to them again. She headed towards an empty patch of grass, shrouded by a large tree, where no one else would notice her. At the base of the trunk, she sat down and wiped at her eyes, praying no more tears would come. She involuntarily sniffled, as such seemed to be a standard reflex when crying. 

She didn’t think the noise would attract any attention, she was all alone after all. She quickly realized how wrong she was.

“Are you okay?”

Diana nearly yelped at the sudden voice that quite literally came from nowhere. Her head swiveled from left to right, looking for the owner of the voice, only to see no one. That’s when she heard the rustling of leaves above her and realized the one place she had yet to look was up. Slowly, she arched her neck toward the sky and saw that in the tree, a couple of meters above her head, was a young girl about her age, sitting atop a branch and peering down at her curiously.

Diana shot up, feeling her face heat up with a speed she never thought possible. She had just been caught crying by a complete stranger. She hadn’t even known the girl was there. The branches of the tree were thick and with so many leaves, she was able to keep hidden well. The only thing that really stuck out to Diana was the pink dress she was wearing, but only a sliver of it could be seen underneath her dark cape that blended into the shadows.

But, wait—cape? Diana didn’t have time to dwell on that because, before she knew it, the girl was climbing from her branch and descending down the tree. Diana took several steps back and considered making a run for it. But the girl was quick, and seemed to have a lack of care for safety, because she ignored the other branches below her and closed their distance by jumping a concerning amount of feet onto the ground.

She winced upon making impact and very nearly lost her balance, but she was able to keep from falling over. Diana saw she had bandages plastered over one knee as well as many other scars adorning her legs. If jumping from trees was the kind of thing she had a habit of doing, Diana had an idea of where those other scars came from.

The girl straightened up and her big, red eyes surveyed Diana. She took a step closer.

“Do you speak English?” she asked with a strong accent. “You look like a foreigner.”

“I, um… yes.” Diana answered, her voice shy.

Picking up on her accent, the girl’s face brightened. “Ohh, are you from England? I’ve never met someone from there.”

“Y-yes,” Diana said again. She took another step backward, and it must have shown how timid she was because the girl’s face softened and shifted into a look of concern.

“Oh, but… you were crying,” she noted, remembering why she came down the tree. Again, she asked, “Are you okay?”

Diana’s cheeks went red. “I… n-no, I wasn’t crying. I just… got grass in my eye.” She wasn’t accustomed to lying, her mother always told her to tell the truth, so she wasn’t sure if she was convincing or not. Still, she didn’t know if she wanted to talk about it with someone she didn’t even know. “Anyway,” she said, searching for some way to change the subject. Her eyes zeroed in on the girl. “Why are you wearing a cape? It’s very hot out.”

That seemed to do the trick. The girl took the bait easily and the light came back to her face. “I have to wear a cape! Shiny Chariot wears a cape and I wanna be a witch like her!”

Diana’s eyes widened. “Shiny Chariot?”

“Yeah!” the girl chirped. “Do you know her? I just saw her show yesterday and she was amazing! Her magic was so cool and she looked so incredible flying on her broom, and she also had the Shiny Rod and used it to turn into this half-horse thing and then this scary looking monster showed up, but it was okay because she shot it with the Shiny Arc and destroyed it and then—”

Head buzzing from the girl’s sudden overenthusiastic rambling, Diana found herself getting lost in the moment and couldn’t stop herself from saying, “And then she said her catchphrase _a believing heart is your magic_ and then—”

She had to abruptly stop when she noticed the girl staring at her with her mouth gaping open and her eyes as wide as saucers. She realized what she had done. “A-and then the show was over. I was… there, too,” she admitted sheepishly.

A high-pitched noise that sounded like a gasp and a squeal left the girl’s mouth. A wide, toothy grin spread across her face. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” she cheered, darting towards Diana. Before she knew what was happening, the girl was gripping her hands tightly and she leaned forward, planting her face mere inches from Diana’s.

Her eyes were so much redder and brighter when seen from so up close. But Diana was startled they were so up close. She pulled away, feeling like there was a permanent blush burned into her skin. Her heart was beating at a much faster rate than it had been seconds ago, and for a number of reasons. For starters, this girl was a lot friendlier than a stranger probably should have been. Second, she was just _so close_. Third… Diana couldn’t believe she had just found another Shiny Chariot fan, and one who was so eager about it, at that.

It was such an unbelievable stroke of fate, she couldn’t believe it had only been moments ago that she was lamenting about wanting to know someone just like this, only to have her quite literally fall from the sky. 

“I’m Atsuko Kagari. But you can call me Akko,” the girl introduced herself. “Please be my friend! Nobody else I know likes Shiny Chariot.”

Diana gave her a nervous, but friendly smile. “No one else I know likes her either. They make fun of me for it.”

“Ugh, me too,” Akko scowled. “Everyone’s so mean. I had a Shiny Chariot hat I was wearing, but kids kept stealing it from me so I just left it with my parents. I wish I could use magic to glue it to my head,” she finished with a pout.

Diana giggled. “I think my mother might know a spell to do that.”

She didn’t know what she was expecting in response to that statement, but another, even louder gasp/squeal was not it.

“Your mother is a witch?! _You’re_ a witch?!” Akko exclaimed, somehow moving even closer to Diana’s face than before.

“Y-yes, we are,” Diana stammered. “We come from a long line of witches, and I’m going to grow up to be a great witch like my mother.”

“I’m gonna grow up to be a great witch like Chariot! We can become great witches together and we’ll talk about Shiny Chariot all the time and it’ll be so much fun!”

“Really?”

“Definitely!” Akko nodded firmly, like she was making a promise. And maybe she was. “So? Do you wanna be my friend?”

Diana Cavendish hadn’t been alive for long, only six short years, but there was something about this girl and her offer of friendship that made her feel like this was the most important decision she would ever have to make. A decision that could shape the rest of her life. 

And yet, the answer seemed so obviously simple.

“I… I do,” she whispered, and thankfully Akko was so close that there was no chance she could’ve misheard. Still, Diana cleared her throat and said it even louder, as if speaking to the whole world, telling them that it was possible for her to have a friend who wouldn’t make her feel bad for being herself. That it was okay for people like her to exist and find each other. “My name is Diana and yes, I’ll be your friend, Akko.”

From their short encounter, she was already able to piece together that Akko didn’t have any semblance of personal space, so it didn’t surprise her too much when she got pulled into a bone-crushing hug. But Diana could only laugh. 

There wasn’t a single tear in sight. Not an ounce of sadness. Just a newfound peace and joy. It was the same feeling she had as she watched Shiny Chariot’s show. It was the same feeling she wanted to keep with her for a very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and have a wonderful Dianakko Week everyone!!


End file.
